In this moving conversation, we explore what happens when a childhood spent surviving the streets becomes the blueprint for a life's work. Wycliffe Barasa, CEO and co-founder of Kosi Africa, joins us to discuss how loss, a grandmother's wisdom, and the pain of being overlooked shaped a youth-led organization dedicated to empowering communities through education, mentorship, and the environment.

From being labeled a "curse" after losing his parents, to living on the streets of Uganda from age five to twelve, where street children weren't even counted in the national census, Wycliffe shares how reuniting with his grandmother changed everything. She taught him about resilience, impact, and inspired the name for Kosi Africa. Kosi means "go."

We dig into Kosi Africa's approach of working with communities rather than for them, from resource auditing in schools to EduGreen, a project where students raise and sell indigenous tree seedlings to fund scholarships. Wycliffe also reflects on failure as fuel for creativity, and the extraordinary act of forgiving the man who shot his father, then putting that man's children through school. Whether you're drawn to stories of resilience or the future of education, this episode shows why a candle loses nothing by lighting another.

Topics covered: youth education in Africa, prevention over cure in social impact, community-led design, mentorship and leadership, failure and creativity, forgiveness and healing, and sustainable models for nonprofit funding.

More about Wycliffe:
Kosi Africa Website: https://www.kosiafrica.org/
Wycliffe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wycliffe-barasa/

Learn more about the show: https://www.cjfpodcast.com/

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